A new study suggests manatees weren’t permanent residents in the Sunshine State until around the 20th century, drawn in by a warming climate and construction of power plants

Over the course of his career, study co-author and University of South Florida anthropologist Thomas Pluckhahn realized that there was a lack of evidence showing that there was a large population of manatees in the pre-colonial era. The manatee population in Tampa Bay wasn’t even deemed plentiful until the 1950s .

Manatees are a bit like the Sunshine State's transplants: they recently moved there, attracted by the warm weather and human development. But the same changes that brought them there could lead to their demise.

Historic accounts reveal manatee populations increased in the 1800s and 1900s alongside human populations. A new study highlights that Florida manatees are more numerous now than ever before, likely due to improved conservation efforts and environmental changes.

Despite their modern reputation as a rare species, these results suggest that Florida manatees are more abundant today than any previous time in North American human history. Many of the anthropogenic changes that endanger the species today are also likely responsible for their population growth over the past two centuries.

New research suggests that while manatees are an indelible part of Florida's seascape, they might also be relatively new residents in the Sunshine State.